Morganza study delayed

Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 5:32 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 5:32 p.m.

A five-year study updating the cost and construction standards of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system will be delayed for six months to a year, local levee leaders said Tuesday.

The delay is another disappointment in the decades-long fight to get federal hurricane protection for Terrebonne Parish, according to U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La, and David Vitter, R-La.

“The residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes are deeply disappointed in this news, and on their behalf I want to strongly state that 20 years is far and away enough time to study and analyze the importance of this project,” Landrieu said. “The time for study is over, and the time for action is now.”

Both lawmakers said they would urge the corps to complete the report as soon as possible.

“This delay is another example of the corps' unacceptable foot-dragging and gross mismanagement of taxpayer dollars,” Vitter said. “This project has been authorized twice, and the corps' continued delay is a slap in the face to south Louisianaians who are under threat of flooding every summer.”

Morganza is a system of levees, floodgates and a lock on the Houma Navigation Canal aimed at protecting residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes from storm flooding. The corps has been working on the federal project since 1992.

Because of the lengthy corps process, the levee project has been a controversial topic in Louisiana.

When the project finally won authorization in Congress in 2007, 15 years after it was conceived, it was kicked back to the corps for another round of study. Corps officials said the project would have to be updated with new flood protection standards enacted after Hurricane Katrina, and a new price tag would have to be calculated for it.

Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre said he was notified of the delay by New Orleans Army Corps District commander, Col. Edward Flemming, Monday night.

Flemming said the corps would not be able to determine when the report could be finished until new economic models are run determining the cost-benefit ratio of the project, Dupre said. But he was told the delay would be at least six months, if not a year.

With the project stretching into its 21st year of study, “this solidifies the reason that our decision to continue building hurricane protection on our own was a good decision,” Dupre said.

Tired of waiting for the federal government to build Morganza, the Terrebonne Levee District decided to move forward building a scaled-down version along the corps' approved path with state and local taxpayer money in 2008. The district's hope was to get some flood protection in place quickly to protect against tropical storms and minor hurricanes. The plan is to build a 10-foot levees and floodgates from Pointe-aux-Chenes to Dularge. Officials hope they can get credit later for the work.

On Dec. 8, the Terrebonne Levee District will ask parish voters to approve a half-cent sales tax aimed at raising as much as $150 million to finish the interim levee system.

The federal Morganza project, as authorized by Congress, will be much larger and much more expensive, including 72 miles of levees, 13 floodgates, a lock on the Houma Navigation Canal and 13 floodgates to allow water to pass through the lengthy barrier until a storm comes.

Morganza's levees were authorized to a height of 9-15 feet in 2007. The new report that will apply post-Katrina construction standards to those levees will make them 50 percent taller and 350 percent wider, corps officials have said.

Higher construction standards also will significantly increase the cost. Morganza was originally authorized at a price tag of $886 million in 2007, which would come out to about $1.3 billion if it were under construction today. Local levee leaders have said that the new report will put Morganza's cost over $10 billion.

Even after the report is completed, the project still faces a long, uphill battle to become a reality. Morganza must secure another authorization by Congress at a higher price tag in a time of federal budget cutting. Billions in federal and local construction dollars also would have to be secured.

Dupre said he has talked to both Landrieu and Vitter about the delay, and he hopes it will open up a conversation with the corps about realistic expectations when it comes to levee construction.

“With the corps it's got to be perfect or nothing. That's why the cost of Morganza has increased by 1,000 percent,” Dupre said.

He said he hopes the corps might look at building a smaller federal levee similar to what was approved by Congress in 2007 “to at least give us a fighting chance of survival.”

“Morganza-to-the-Gulf is more than hurricane protection for 200,000 residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes; it is protection for America,” said Sharon Bergeron, president of the Morganza Action Coalition, a lobbying group for Morganza. “The energy and seafood we provide along our working coast fuels and feeds this entire nation. As tax-paying, hard-working Americans, we are frustrated that the federal government once again is delaying a report that would help us get the hurricane protection our region desperately needs and deserves.”

<p>A five-year study updating the cost and construction standards of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane protection system will be delayed for six months to a year, local levee leaders said Tuesday.</p><p>The delay is another disappointment in the decades-long fight to get federal hurricane protection for Terrebonne Parish, according to U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La, and David Vitter, R-La.</p><p>“The residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes are deeply disappointed in this news, and on their behalf I want to strongly state that 20 years is far and away enough time to study and analyze the importance of this project,” Landrieu said. “The time for study is over, and the time for action is now.”</p><p>Both lawmakers said they would urge the corps to complete the report as soon as possible.</p><p>“This delay is another example of the corps' unacceptable foot-dragging and gross mismanagement of taxpayer dollars,” Vitter said. “This project has been authorized twice, and the corps' continued delay is a slap in the face to south Louisianaians who are under threat of flooding every summer.”</p><p>Morganza is a system of levees, floodgates and a lock on the Houma Navigation Canal aimed at protecting residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes from storm flooding. The corps has been working on the federal project since 1992.</p><p>Because of the lengthy corps process, the levee project has been a controversial topic in Louisiana.</p><p>When the project finally won authorization in Congress in 2007, 15 years after it was conceived, it was kicked back to the corps for another round of study. Corps officials said the project would have to be updated with new flood protection standards enacted after Hurricane Katrina, and a new price tag would have to be calculated for it.</p><p>Terrebonne Levee Director Reggie Dupre said he was notified of the delay by New Orleans Army Corps District commander, Col. Edward Flemming, Monday night.</p><p>Flemming said the corps would not be able to determine when the report could be finished until new economic models are run determining the cost-benefit ratio of the project, Dupre said. But he was told the delay would be at least six months, if not a year.</p><p>With the project stretching into its 21st year of study, “this solidifies the reason that our decision to continue building hurricane protection on our own was a good decision,” Dupre said.</p><p>Tired of waiting for the federal government to build Morganza, the Terrebonne Levee District decided to move forward building a scaled-down version along the corps' approved path with state and local taxpayer money in 2008. The district's hope was to get some flood protection in place quickly to protect against tropical storms and minor hurricanes. The plan is to build a 10-foot levees and floodgates from Pointe-aux-Chenes to Dularge. Officials hope they can get credit later for the work.</p><p>On Dec. 8, the Terrebonne Levee District will ask parish voters to approve a half-cent sales tax aimed at raising as much as $150 million to finish the interim levee system.</p><p>The federal Morganza project, as authorized by Congress, will be much larger and much more expensive, including 72 miles of levees, 13 floodgates, a lock on the Houma Navigation Canal and 13 floodgates to allow water to pass through the lengthy barrier until a storm comes. </p><p>Morganza's levees were authorized to a height of 9-15 feet in 2007. The new report that will apply post-Katrina construction standards to those levees will make them 50 percent taller and 350 percent wider, corps officials have said. </p><p>Higher construction standards also will significantly increase the cost. Morganza was originally authorized at a price tag of $886 million in 2007, which would come out to about $1.3 billion if it were under construction today. Local levee leaders have said that the new report will put Morganza's cost over $10 billion.</p><p>Even after the report is completed, the project still faces a long, uphill battle to become a reality. Morganza must secure another authorization by Congress at a higher price tag in a time of federal budget cutting. Billions in federal and local construction dollars also would have to be secured.</p><p>Dupre said he has talked to both Landrieu and Vitter about the delay, and he hopes it will open up a conversation with the corps about realistic expectations when it comes to levee construction.</p><p>“With the corps it's got to be perfect or nothing. That's why the cost of Morganza has increased by 1,000 percent,” Dupre said. </p><p>He said he hopes the corps might look at building a smaller federal levee similar to what was approved by Congress in 2007 “to at least give us a fighting chance of survival.”</p><p>“Morganza-to-the-Gulf is more than hurricane protection for 200,000 residents of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes; it is protection for America,” said Sharon Bergeron, president of the Morganza Action Coalition, a lobbying group for Morganza. “The energy and seafood we provide along our working coast fuels and feeds this entire nation. As tax-paying, hard-working Americans, we are frustrated that the federal government once again is delaying a report that would help us get the hurricane protection our region desperately needs and deserves.”</p><p>Staff Writer Nikki Buskey can be reached at 857-2205.</p>